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Ole Peder Bertelsen, who has died aged 87, was a Danish-born oil trader who became one of the most powerful entrepreneurs in the London fashion trade.

Bertelsen’s career change came in the early 1980s when, having made a modest fortune in oil, he was offered the opportunity to take over the management of the European wholesale business and flagship Bond Street store of the American designer Ralph Lauren, then at the height of his selling power. Though the connection with Lauren did not endure, before long other couturiers were queuing up for Bertelsen’s assistance.

“Valentino and Armani heard about this crazy Dane who was handling Ralph’s interests in Europe,” he told an interviewer. “So they...